


18.

by legally_blonde



Series: Jukebox Love Story [2]
Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24074242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legally_blonde/pseuds/legally_blonde
Summary: Hyde has loved Jackie since he was 18.
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Series: Jukebox Love Story [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728451
Comments: 2
Kudos: 70





	18.

**18**

* * *

_I got a heart & I got a soul. Believe me I will use them both._

_We made a start – be it a false one, I know._

_Baby, I don’t want to feel alone._

* * *

“Steven!” Jackie yelled as she walked in Grooves. The store was quiet since it was just about closing time, but she did draw the eye of a few lingering customers who were still trying to decide on the record to buy. She didn’t see him anywhere, figuring he was in the back office.

“Hey Jackie,” Adam said from behind the counter. “Hyde just stepped out to the bank, he should be back in a few.”

“Cool, I’ll be in the back,” she said and he nodded, walking into Hyde’s office.

She smiled as she sat down on the couch he has in there and took a look around. They had come so far in the last five years. They got back together after New Year’s Eve of 1979. She hadn’t expected it. Hyde had come up beside her that night before the countdown, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and kissed her cheek. She remembered how shocked she was, how she quickly looked over to Fez to see if he saw, and how her heart didn’t stop racing the rest of the night. She had called things off with Fez (again) the next day, and then left for Chicago three months later. Hyde had stayed in Point Place to get Grooves up and running. After a year, he left that store in the hands of Eric to run, and moved to Chicago to open a new one.

They didn’t get together right away. She didn’t even know he was in Chicago for the first few months he was there because they both got so busy and hadn’t spoken for a while. She had left work one day and noticed the record store on her usual route home. She didn’t get her hopes up that it would be him, just figured that W.B. expanded and she wanted some sense of home. She remembered asking if they had any ABBA, and out came Steven with a grimace on his face that was quickly replaced with a look of shock. She started stopping there on her way home every night, and Steven Hyde quickly became her person again.

“Hey doll,” Hyde said, breaking Jackie away from her trip down memory lane when he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Class end early?”

“I snuck out the back, I couldn’t listen to the professor drone on anymore,” she said. “Plus I was too excited to see you.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” he asked with a smirk.

It was their anniversary and Hyde had actually planned a date for the two of them without any hints or help from Jackie. She was bugging him all week for details, but all he would tell her was they were going on a drive and it’ll probably be windy so wear something warm and comfortable.

“Can’t I just be excited to see my puddin’ pop?”

“Starting to rethink this whole thing,” he grumbled, frowning at the nickname she used to call him when they were kids.

“Stop it, Steven,” she said, swatting his arm. She stood in front of his desk and watched him wrap up whatever work he’s been doing. “I’m really proud of you, you know?”

“For remembering our anniversary this year,” he asked without looking up at her.

“Well yes, but no,” she said with a huff. “You’re doing so well for yourself. You work so hard each day, you’ve made this store so successful. I’m just really proud.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he said, grabbing her hand and kissing the inside of her wrist. “I’m still not telling you where we’re going.”

“Come on!”

* * *

Hyde had smiled over at Jackie’s sleeping form in the passenger seat next to him. She had dozed off the minute he started driving. He knew she’d been staying up late studying the last few weeks. She had nixed the idea of becoming a journalist after her experience with Christine St. George was far from what she imagined. She had worked her first year in Chicago to save up for college, then started classes at the University of Chicago. When she told him that she wanted to go to law school after, he choked on his beer. He had no doubt in his mind that she was capable of it, just was surprised.

_“What, Steven? Maybe I want to ‘fight the man,’” she had said to him, shrugging away from his shocked look. “I am smart, you know.”_

“Jackie, we’re here,” he said, gently shaking her away. “We can go back home if you want.”

“No,” she said, yawning as she stretched. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“No big deal,” he shrugged, getting out of the car and walking over to her door to help her out. “You only drooled a little.”

“I did not,” she said defiantly, but wiped at her mouth just to make sure. “I do not drool or snore, Steven.”

“Whatever you say,” he chuckled, taking her hand as they walked into Navy Pier.

“Oh Steven,” she said happily. “This was where we had our first date.”

“First date in Chicago, yes,” he said.

“Point Place seems like a different lifetime,” she mused. “Everything was so different, we were so different.”

“I was an ass,” he said.

“I was no better,” she said with a shrug. “Remember the last New Years there? In ’79?”

“Of course,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and bringing her closer as they walked to the end of the pier. “I thought for sure you were going to kill me.”

“I never expected you to speak to me, let alone kiss me on the cheek,” she said, reaching up to touch her cheek as she smiled at the memory. “I was so worried about breaking Fez’s heart again.”

They reached the end of the pier and sat down at their bench, the one they had their first date in Chicago at. They shared a pretzel and cotton candy they had grabbed on the way down, as well as a flask Hyde kept in his jacket.

“Happy anniversary, doll,” he said, kissing her forehead. “Did I do okay this year?”

“You do perfect every year, Steven” she said, beaming up at him.

They sat in a peaceful silence for a while, just staring out at the Chicago skyline while Jackie laid her head on Hyde’s shoulder and he played with her hair.

“Puddin’ pop,” she said. “Why did you come to Chicago?”

“To be with you,” he said, surprised by how easy it was to tell her that and that she even had to ask it. “Why else would I come here?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged lightly. “But you never told me you planned on coming. We didn’t talk as often once I got here, but we still spoke.”

“I needed to make sure I could make something of myself here. You deserve the world, Jackie. I wanted to make sure I could give you that. You took a chance on me again, I wasn’t going to waste that.”

“ _We_ took a chance,” she corrected him. “God knows we tried. Yet, all along I knew we’d be fine.”

“Really,” he asked skeptically. “We didn’t speak for a year, and when we did we weren’t exactly nice.”

“Hate is not the opposite of love,” she said. “Steven, I have loved you since we were stupid teenagers. You’re the only boy I truly loved. It doesn’t go away so easily.”

“Hm,” he said, pulling her closely. “Remember when you told me you liked shiny things?”

“Yes, and you promised me a cheeseburger wrapped in tin foil,” she smiled at the memory. “Which I am disappointed I don’t have my shiny gift this year, Steven. We always have cheeseburgers.”

“Yeah, well,” he said while he unwrapped his arm from her shoulder and got down on one knee, pulling out a ring box from his pocket. He opened it and revealed the most gorgeous round diamond on a thin diamond band. “I was hoping maybe you’d like something different.”

“Steven,” she gasped, unable to form a sentence.

“Jackie, I have loved you since we were 18. Long before we thought the same thing, to be loved and to be in love. All I can do is say that these arms were made for holding you. I want a love like you made me feel, when we were 18. I want that love to last forever.”

“Steven how high are you,” she laughed, amazed at how beautiful this proposal was.

“A little high, this ain’t easy,” he laughed. “Shut your pie hole and let me finish.”

“Okay,” she nodded, wiping at her eyes.

“I should have done this a long time ago, but we weren’t ready. I will never put you through what I put you through in the past. You’re the only chick for me, Jackie. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she yelled, lunging at him but was careful not to knock the box out of his hand. He slid the ring on her finger and felt a weight lift off him. She was his forever. “This is the best shiny gift you’ve ever given me.”

“Glad you like it, it’s the only shiny gift you’ll be getting for a while,” he said with a smirk as she kissed him.

“You’re the only gift I really need,” she said with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Song: 18 - One Direction
> 
> Hi all! Going to try to keep a Friday update schedule. Let me know what you think, if you have any song suggestions, whatever you wanna type.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
